1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a container for storing materials. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a container apparatus forming a flexible seal between a container body and a lid.
2. Background Art
Containers having a structure for forming a seal with a removable lid or closure are known in the art, especially containers of the type used for storing consumable materials like food products and dietary supplements. Conventional containers of this type typically include a lid releasably secured to the container. The lid forms a seal with the container to prevent leakage of the stored material. The seal between the lid and the container also serves to prevent foreign materials from entering the container and contaminating the stored product, especially where the stored product is intended for human consumption. The stored products housed within the container may be liquid or solid. Generally, solid materials stored in such a container are in a granulated or a powdered state.
During use of a conventional handheld container of this type, the lid is opened or removed from the container by the user to access a portion of the stored product. Generally, only a fraction of the product is desired for use at a given time, while the remainder is intended for future use. Upon retrieval of a desired amount, the lid is closed against the container until the next usage to prevent leakage or contamination of the remaining product. In many applications, the container may be accessed multiple times each day.
Repeated daily access by the user can cause the seal between the lid and the container to become worn and less effective at preventing leakage or contamination. Powdered, or particulate, content is typically accessed in one of two ways. First, a user may use a scoop to retrieve a metered dose of powder from the container. Second, a user may pour the powdered material directly from the storage container into a separate container. During either of these processes for transferring powdered content from the storage container to an outside container, individual granules of powder are likely to be spilled along the rim or seal structure on the storage container. When the lid is reapplied to a conventional container, granules resting on the rim or seal structure of the container can prevent complete contact between the lid and the container, creating gaps in the seal through which additional granules may pass, allowing leakage or contamination of the stored contents.
Sealing pressure between the lid and the container is another factor affecting seal reliability. Sealing pressure can be a function of container geometry. For example, a round container having a circular seal interface generally experiences a uniform sealing pressure around the circumference of the seal. However, a container with a non-circular seal perimeter, i.e. a container with an elliptical or polygonal shape, may experience non-uniform sealing pressure around the periphery of the seal. Non-uniform sealing pressure between the lid and container can cause leakage at the regions of lower sealing pressure and can cause accelerated wear at areas of higher sealing pressure.
Conventional sealing elements for containers typically include a lid part that mates with a container part to form the seal. The seal can be located on either the lid part or the container part. The alignment of the lid part on the container part generally must be precise to ensure adequate alignment and engagement of the sealing structure between the two parts. Thus, the manufacturing tolerances for each part must fall within a narrow range. Manufacturing the lid and container parts within a relatively narrow tolerance range to ensure precision alignment of the sealing structure between the parts raises both manufacturing time and manufacturing cost.
What is needed then is a container for storing materials, having a container and lid and having a releasable seal structure positioned between the container and the lid for preventing leakage of the contents, preventing contamination of the stored content, providing adequate sealing pressure and/or allowing a wider range of manufacturing tolerances.